Birds of the Upper Cumberland Region: Species Accounts

Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula)

Common Grackle [lateral view of adult]: Photograph Credit: Carol D. Williams; Cookeville Hwy., DeKalb County, Tennessee; 1 March 2009.

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Abundance: Common during all seasons; recorded in all Regional counties (Map of UCR Distribution); the trend for the Regional population is probably stable (see also Regional Bird-Monitoring Plan).

Status: Permanent Resident; photograph (see above).

Regional High Count and CBC/CBB High Count: 1,500,000 (16 December 1979; Pulaski County, Kentucky [Somerset CBC]; Jackie B. Elmore, Sr.); SBC/SBB High Count: 17,000 (19 April 1975; Putnam County, Tennessee [SBC]; m. ob.); FBC/FBB High Count: 472 (16 September 2006; Putnam County, Tennessee [FBC]; m. ob.).

Breeding: Confirmed (Recent). Semi-colonial.

Habitat: x

YardWatch Results 2003 and 2004: Registered on 56 (of 125) monthly check-lists during 2003 and on 121 (of 206) check-lists during 2004, leading to YardWatch abundance classifications of Fairly Common and Common, respectively; these YardWatch frequency classifications indicate that the grackle was a bit less frequently encountered in Regional yards and neighborhoods during 2003 than in the Region generally, but in 2004 it was encountered about as frequently in Regional yards and neighborhoods as in the Region generally.

Foray Results: A summary of data from UCR Forays follows (to view a map displaying foray data for a county or a sub-Region for this species, click on the name of an underlined county or state below):

* Because some foray blocks fall into two or three counties, the total of blocks in the Kentucky or Tennessee portions of the Region is less than the sum of the blocks in the counties of each portion of the Region; similarly, because some blocks fall into both states, the total of blocks for the Region is less than the sum of the blocks in the two states.

Remarks: x

Check-lists of Birds for the Counties of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of each county of the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed by clicking on the links below. For each county, there are two check-lists: one list that shows the species that have been observed and where possible documented in the county within the larger list for the entire Region; and one list that includes only the species observed in the county with annotations for the date and observers for at least one sighting (the ultimate goal of the latter list will be to include annotations for the very first known Regional observation of each species in that county; this goal is probably one that will take many years to complete, if completion is even a possibility). To see if the species discussed in this species account has been observed in a county, click below or click on the link for the Map of UCR Distribution near the top of the page.

Check-lists of Birds for Some Public Access Birding Sites of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of some public access birding sites within the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed via the links below. To see if the species dealt with in this species account has been observed within any of these sites, click on the appropriate link below. See the pages for each county within the Gazetteer for links to additional smaller public access birding sites with check-lists in progress.

Literature Cited